This invention relates to computed tomography and more particularly to a method and apparatus for removing artifacts from CT images.
Modern computed tomography has provided diagnostic images containing information which was simply not available or difficult to interpret using prior imaging techniques. At the same time, structures in or on the body which had previously not created serious imaging problem have led to artifacts which made CT images difficult to interpret.
One example is that of surgical clips within the slice to be imaged. Such clips are typically of very high density as compared to the surrounding tissue and are often found to create artifacts known as "starburst". Such artifacts limit the diagnostic utility of the CT image. The starburst artifact caused by surgical clips is characteristic of a class of artifacts created by areas within the slice exhibiting sharp but localized density discontinuities.